Double - Little Red Riding Hood part 1

In our Story telling, we are telling the tales of Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the three bears and Jack and the Beanstalk. We have now finished now the story of Little Red Riding Hood which was challenging however I believe that we have managed to pull it off. The story starts off with a narrator telling the audience about Little Red Riding Hood, as he describes her, she acts out the action that he says e.g. "She was friends with the animals, they would say hello", and then someone would be an animal of their choice (one that's found in a forest) and then whoever is closest to her, they would say "Hello" to her. I feel that by doing an exercise of just doing what we think a certain object would do helped as it then meant we didn’t really mind crawling on the floor looking a bit weird.

Stage Design - Part 1

This is a diagram of the stage. In the diagram of Mushnik's shop, I have drawn out a rough estimate of the stage using paint and I have added the colours that is seen in the stimuli below however I have made it more interesting as I have flipped the paint over on each walls. The measurements in this diagram are the exact same as the actual stage (the side panels and back wall). For the actual performance I might have to make a smaller version of the back wall and attach the two small walls to it as I want the back wall to have paintings of different buildings to show it's in a city. 

This is the stage design that was used for a “Little Shop of Horrors” in the American Community Theatre, Hong Kong in 2007. I'm using this real imagine as a stimulus in order to help me achieve the right set. The colours of the shop is very bright and looks rather flouriest like. 

Double - Research into Little Red Riding Hood

                                                                     FILM

This is one way in which the story of little red riding hood is told. Even though it is not telling the full story of little red riding hood, it has the characters that are involved with the story and some of the events that occur are also related to the story of Little Red Riding Hood. The way it is told is very different as each of the characters are interviewed and questioned in which it shows us different stories within the actual story however they all link together. The film can be accessed on Netflix. The use of them singing in the film makes it friendlier for children and also the songs that they sing are fairly catchy for younger people so it might engage them even more.

This is a song in which a goat sings about being prepared and shows red all the types of horns he has in a comedic and melodramatic way.

                                                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dNAbb7vKjY

This is another way in which Little Red Riding Hood is told. It is told through the way of some sort of puppetry which can be very attracting for a younger audience (ages 5 to 6). The use of puppets is a good idea as it allows children to visually see a character and therefore imagine the characters in certain scenery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOVxx2Ak0Jw

Styles of acting - Vaudeville Evaluation

With Vaudeville I thought that it was good but I thought it was quite challenging. I thought that it was good in the fact that I was able to be mellowing dramatic and that the movement could be over the top. However I didn’t like it as it has to have a pace to it and it has to be speedy and I don’t feel like I can’t move fast enough and in a way slightly kill the mood/ atmosphere for the this style of performance. When reading the lines for the script I thought that it would seem more like a kind of sketch from a TV show. I thought that the character “milkman” was quite a gullible character and was slightly comedic.   

Styles of acting - Vaudeville

Pre -Vaudeville (1881 – 1920)

·         Was before the civil war theatre was dominated by burlesque and had many risqué things.

·         Theatre was not only a place to entertained, was for men to have a drink, aimed at a male audience.

After the civil war

·         1881 – tony pastor said that theatre shouldn’t be just for men and shows having a wide variety of different performances in one evening are missing a completely separate audience. 

·         He banned drinking in the theatre

·         He then started to perform Shakespeare, acrobats, singers, presentations of dance and comedy all at in the same evening.

·         He removed all the risqué and inappropriate content and aimed to make it for everyone.

What he found out

·         He could make a huge amount of money if they kept putting on performances like this.

·         As the years went on more amusements became available to choose from (circuses/mimes/singers etc)

·         Performances in saloons and burlesque houses still continued

The purpose

·         The sole purpose of Vaudeville was to entertain the audiences.

·         Over the years (1880 to the early 1920s) the easiest was to this was to make people laugh.

·         There was an increase in Comedy Sketches which was full of slapstick comedy e.g.           Charlie Chaplin

The Demise of Vaudeville

·         Over years it became more and more popular appealing to many different audiences, and for the first time Irish performers and black performers.

·         When Silent movies started to be released for cheaper prices , meaning Vaudeville started a big competition.

·         Vaudeville in theatres became less common as they could not support themselves as ,uch as they once could.

So what is Vaudeville now?

·         Shows like Britain’s got talent and the Royal Variety performances.

·         However we also have kept the comedy sketches that were bought to life by Vaudeville  (Laurel and Hardy).

·         This is called New Vaudeville .

What makes it new Vaudeville

·         Over the top physically

·         Comedy sketch type performance

·         No character relationship with the audience

·         Often recognise your audience. Acknowledging the they are there. 

Styles of Acting - Shakespeare Evaluation

I had the role of “Bottom”. The character is presented as stuck up actor who thinks he is superior to the other actors in the upcoming play. The way I made him seem stuck up is by having a mellow dramatic British voice and I tried to make my body movement as big as possible as it would mean that the audience would look at me more than any other person, meaning I’m thinking more like my character. When analysing my script I looked at ways in which I could say certain and when Bottom says “the raging rocks, the shivering shocks…”etc, I thought it would be comical to do it in a monologue style and rather over the top as it would be funny.

Style of Acting - Shakespeare

Shakespeare

·         In 1576 James Burbage (father or the actor Richard Burbage) bought a lease and permission to build “The Theatre” in Shoreditch London.

·         The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (A theatre company led by Richard Burbage, performing Shakespeare’s plays) were the company in residence from 1594 1596.

Theatre Shakespeare Style

·         Writers began by presenting their ideas for a plot. The actors and managers then decided whether they liked it or not, and offer a down payment for its completion.

·         Writers created their characters with certain actors in mind. For example knowing that Richard Burbage was the Chamberlin’s leading man, and that he had a good memory for long scripts, Shakespeare created the parts for Richard III and Hamlet for him. And as the actor grew older, Shakespeare made his characters more mature.

·         This meant that he would not see who else was going to be on the stage until they actually rehearsed the scene.

·         Rehearsals were used to sort out the details not specified in the script. Entrances, costumes, and songs were filled in by actors.

1593 London Theatres close due to outbreaks of the bubonic plagues in England

Moving across the river

·         From 1596 to 1597 the city of London authorities ban the public performances of plays within the city limits of London.

·         1597 Dispute over the lease of “the theatre”. The puritan owner, Giles Allen. Disapproved of the theatre and the acting troupe. Burbage opens negotiations to re – new the lease of “the theatre”

·         1597 Shakespeare Company of actors moved to the Curtain Theatre after failed negotiations for a new lease for the theatre.

·         1598 Timber from the “theatre” taken to use for the building of a new venue you be called the globe

·         1599 The globe theatre is opened on bankside, London.

1603 The bubonic Plague returns and killed 33,000 people. In 1608 Theatres closed

·         In 1613 June29th, Fire at the globe during a performance of henry VIII

·         1614 Is rebuilt

After Queen Elizabeth

·         After Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603, King James took the throne. This is known as  the Jacobean period and ran until 1625.

·         Jacobean theatre was dark and disturbing – Grotesquely violent and often shockingly obscene.

·         Sexuality was very prevalent in Jacobean performances, along with a heightened sense of violence and General immoralities

·         As the economy declined, so did the delicacy of theatre performances moved from outdoor to indoor, because of the changeable weather.

Jacobean Dramas

There are two types of Jacobean Theatre : Revenge Plays, Tragicomedies

Revenge Plays

·         Revenger plays were very obscene and violent

Theatre in decline

·         1642 The English civil war broke out between the parliamentarians and the Royalists

·         Parliament then pulled down the globe theatre and was replaced with council houses

·         All actors were to be arrested and anyone who went to see the plays was fined

·         King Charles I was executed by Parliamentarians

·         Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England